Category Archives: Culture

Rajas con Crema is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of strips of roasted Poblano peppers and onion simmered in Mexican cream. The rajas are then usually eaten in corn tortillas as tacos or atop rice. It’s one of the few vegetarian dishes that leaves me totally satisfied. Here’s my version of the dish made into a casserole; it’s perfect for potlucks or for when you want a meal you can prep in the morning then pop into the oven at dinnertime.

1. Roast the whole chiles until the skin is blackend, either over fire if you have gas stove, or on a dry comal (griddle.)

At this time you will also cut the onion half in quarters and place on the comal, moving as needed to slightly roast all flat sides. Remove the onion to cool for a moment before slicing in tiny, thin strips. Measure out ½ cup onion for this recipe.

2. Wrap the chiles in a paper towel and seal inside a large paper or plastic bag for at least 5 minutes. (This process is called “sweating” the chiles.)

3. Remove the chiles from the bag and the paper towel. Use your fingers, a knife or spoon to scrape most of the blackened skin off the chiles. It’s okay to leave some behind. Do not wash the chiles in water.

4. Use a knife to cut off the stem and slice the chiles open. Cut off and discard the seeds and membrane, then slice the chiles into ½ inch to 1 inch strips. It’s okay if a few seeds remain, just be aware that the more you use, the spicier the dish will be.

5. In a greased 9×13 glass or metal pan, put down a layer of tortilla strips, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with a little salt. Next add a layer of chili strips and a layer of onion, using all your chili and onion.

6. Drop crema by the spoonful on top of the chiles and onion, spreading in an even layer with the back of the spoon.

7. Top with another layer of tortilla strips, sprinkle with salt, and then add the cheese. Drizzle the melted butter over the top.

8. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes uncovered, then broil high for 1 minute to get some nice, toasty brown spots on the cheese. Cut and serve. Serves 4 to 6.

Tip: Cooking for a crowd? Double the ingredients and layers! (This may require a slightly longer bake time.)

For quite awhile I’ve wanted to visit Café Mayorga in Wheaton Mall in Maryland. Finally we went this past weekend to have a cup of coffee and a little something sweet. Here are a few photos from our visit.

We drank little Cubano coffees but Carlos had to add a lot of milk and sugar. Even though he added a mountain of milk and sugar he told me it was still too strong for him. (It’s espresso! I’m not sure what he was expecting.) With my coffee I enjoyed an alfajor and Carlos ate an elephant ear. For the most part Carlos used his coffee to dip his elephant ear into, but as for me, I really liked both my coffee and cookie.

Our visit to “Café Latino” turned out a little expensive but I understand it’s for the quality and I like to support businesses that treat their sources, partners and workers in Latin America well – and Café Mayorga does. If you pass by the area, I recommend you stop by for a little authentic coffee and a treat.

I’m never sure whether to call Salvadoran Marquesote a “cake” or a “bread” – It’s not quite either, but it’s kind of both. My best description of it which will give you an idea of what to expect is “very dense, less sweet, angel food cake.” It’s definitely something you want to eat along with a cup of milk or coffee or else you’ll get hiccups!

I actually posted this recipe several years ago but the recipe received recent new comments from people who were having difficulty with it. I decided to bake the marquesote again to make sure my recipe works, and it does perfectly – but I’ve added some tips this time to help ensure it turns out.

First of all, there was concern that the baking temperature of 450 F is too high and people wanted to know if you can bake the marquesote at 350 F.

While 450 F is indeed the right temperature, I decided to try the recipe at 350 F to see what happens. Here is the result:

Upon first glance it seems that both marquesotes turned out great, but if you were to touch and taste the marquesote baked at 350 F, I think you’d agree with me that it’s not as good. The texture and color of the marquesote baked at 350 F for 30 minutes is not right, in my opinion.

I prefer a crisp, brown crust like you find on angel food cake. Baking for 30 minutes at 350 F gives a lighter-colored crust which is moist – that is not what we’re going for. If you bake it longer than 30 minutes it’s possible that it might improve, but I didn’t test that, so you can try it at your own risk.

So, back to the question – can you bake the marquesote at 350 F? The answer is yes, but I don’t recommend it.

While I’ve never been to cooking school, I can provide plenty of tips and resources which will hopefully help you in future baking attempts. If your marquesote didn’t turn out at 450 F there can be several reasons for this – here are the most common:

• You walked away from the kitchen toward the end of bake time. As ovens vary, it’s important to keep an eye on whatever you’re baking and check for doneness through visual cues such as the color of whatever you’re baking – this is especially important when trying a recipe for the first time. The recommended bake time in a recipe is not necessarily an exact time. In the case of this marquesote, when it’s a nice medium brown, (not yellowish brown and not dark brown or black), on top, and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean, it’s done.

• You baked it too high or too low. Unless otherwise instructed, you should always bake things on the middle rack of your oven.

• You didn’t beat the egg whites correctly. Egg whites should be beaten until stiff for this recipe – no more and no less. This is a really important step. If you aren’t sure if you’re doing it correctly or if you’re having trouble, read this great article: Beating Egg Whites Tips and Hints.

• You beat the batter too much after flour was added. Once you add the flour, it’s important not to overbeat the batter or your cake/bread will be a tough texture.

• Your yeast was dead. It’s really important to have fresh yeast. When you poured the batter into the greased Pyrex, did you see little bubbles start popping up? If you did, the yeast was good — If not, that could have contributed to the problem you experienced. Next time buy fresh yeast if yours has been sitting around a long time, or you can proof some of it to see if it’s still good. (Need to know how to proof yeast? Click here.)

• You used regular flour instead of cake flour. The recipe specifically calls for cake flour because it makes for a more tender cake/bread. I do not recommend substituting other types of flour in this recipe.

• Your measuring cups or measuring technique are not accurate. Some recipes are more forgiving than others, but for some it’s very important to be sure your measuring cups and spoons are accurate and that you are measuring correctly. (Here’s a good article on the topic.)

Okay, now that we got all of that out of the way, let’s bake a marquesote!

Salvadoran Marquesote

Ingredients:

8 eggs
2 cups of cake flour
1 cup of sugar (rounded if you like it a little sweeter as I do)
2 teaspoons of quick rise yeast
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Optional: A few dashes of cinnamon

Method:

1. Mix together the yeast and cake flour in a medium bowl. (Add the cinnamon if using.)

2. Separate the eggs into two different bowls. (The whites should be in a large mixing bowl. Yolks in a small bowl.)

Tip: To separate the eggs, crack an egg in half and pour the yolk back and forth between the shells over the bowl until all the white has dropped into the bowl below. You will be left with just the yolk after a few passes back and forth. The yolk can then be dropped into a separate bowl. Make sure you don’t have any yolk in the whites.

Tip: Not sure if the egg whites are stiff yet? Tilt the bowl – if it moves or there is any liquid, you’re not done.

5. Add the sugar little by little while continuing to use the electric mixer.

6. Add the yolks little by little while continuing to use the electric mixer. Repeat with the flour/yeast mixture. Add vanilla extract. Mix until all ingredients are combined but be careful not to overbeat the batter at this point.

7. Pour the batter into the greased Pyrex and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a medium brown color. The marquesote is finished when this color is achieved and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For those of you who are unable to find Salvadoran relajo to make salsa Criolla to go with Panes con Pavo, pollo, or tamales, here is a “recipe” I came up with so you can make your own if necessary. I read the ingredients on several different brands of authentic Salvadoran relajo and most of them have these spices, (although a few don’t include cloves, peppercorns and/or cumin seeds – so including or excluding those is up to you.) Feel free to tweak it to your family’s preferences, but this should be a good place to start!

It seems that each year there are more Salvadoran video bloggers on YouTube showing how to make delicious Salvadoran recipes and ensuring the Salvadoran culture isn’t lost, even for the Salvadorans living abroad. Today I want to give a “shout out” to the best Salvadoran video bloggers.

Disclosure: I received Nestlé Abuelita products and compensation for this post, but as always, all opinions are my own.

In October I was invited to a Día de los Muertos (#AbuelitaDDLM) event with celebrity chef Richard Sandoval in California, but unfortunately wasn’t able to attend since I’m in the DC area. Luckily the good people who invited me were nice enough to send some Nestlé Abuelita products and recipes to check out so I’m predicting plenty of chocolate-flavored recipes in my family’s future!

As for the chef – Richard Sandoval – he’s the owner and chef of 37 Latin-themed restaurants around the world, but that isn’t what impresses me most. What impresses me most about Chef Sandoval is his commitment to the importance of passing down traditions to the next generation in the kitchen. In today’s world it’s so easy for many families to forget, or become too busy, to show their children the recipes which were taught to them by their mother or grandmother, which means many of those special recipes will be lost. Don’t let that happen! Make a list of the recipes you know and show them to your kids – write them down if you can. Some people make recipes from memory but you won’t always be around, so next time you make a special family dish for which there’s no written recipe, take the time to write it down as you go along. Likewise, if there’s a family recipe you still haven’t learned from a mother or grandmother, ask them to teach you the next time you’re together!

And just as important as sharing traditional recipes, as Chef Sandoval points out in the video below, is creating new ones – like these Creamy Chocolate Guava Pockets! I can’t wait to try them, (you already know how much I love the combination of cream cheese and guayaba!)

For the written recipe shown in the video and many other recipes using Nestlé Abuelita and other Nestlé products in both English and Spanish, visit El Mejor Nido!

Which recipe do you most want to teach your children? Which recipes have you created together?

This spice packet may have cost me less than $3 but don’t be deceived! This imported spice mixture from El Salvador is extremely valuable to anyone who doesn’t have access to it, but who longs to make Salvadoran Panes con Pavo for Thanksgiving. I decided to do this giveaway for those of you who live in parts of the United States where Salvadoran relajo is difficult or impossible to find – so just leave a comment on this post for your chance to win!

====Giveaway Closed! Congratulations to Angie!====

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize description: One lucky winner will receive the item pictured in the photo at the very top of this post: One 3 oz. packet of Mi Canton brand Relajo seasoning.

Approximate value: $3

- How to Enter -

Just leave a comment below! (Please read official rules below before entering.)

Official Rules: No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years of age or older to enter. You must be able to provide a U.S. address for prize shipment. Your name and address will not be shared with any third party. Please no P.O. Boxes. One entry per household. Make sure that you enter a valid email address in the email address field so you can be contacted if you win. Winner will be selected at random. Winner has 24 hours to respond. If winner does not respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be selected at random. Giveaway entries are being accepted between November 11th, 2014 through November 13th, 2014. Entries received after November 13th, 2014 at 11:59 pm EST, will not be considered. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. If you win, by accepting the prize, you are agreeing that Latinaish.com assumes no liability for damages of any kind. By entering your name below you are agreeing to these Official Rules. Void where prohibited by law.

Buena suerte / Good luck!

Disclosure: I did not receive any product or payment to run this giveaway. Item for giveaway was purchased by me.